The Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED) is pleased to announce the availability of funding from the Rural Development Fund.
Donor Name: Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED)
State: Massachusetts
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/04/2025
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
The RDF is a competitive grant program created to provide financial support for a variety of activities related to economic and community development in rural communities and small towns – specifically towns with a population density of 500 persons per square mile and/or a total population less than 7,000 (based on the 2020 US Census).
The program is designed to support projects that address the unique economic needs and challenges faced by smaller communities, which sometimes includes difficulty competing against larger cities/towns for grant resources. RDF awards funds based on the project’s nexus with infrastructure, economic development, community development, housing, transportation, and priorities identified by the Commonwealth’s Rural Policy Advisory Commission.
Funding Information
Grants in this category will likely be in the $50,000-$500,000 range.
Grant Period
Funded projects must be completed no later than June 30, 2027.
Eligible Projects
The program will consider a variety of projects for funding support under the Development Continuum categories listed below. There are numerous appropriate projects within each category, with some examples included in the list below.
- Planning and Zoning Category (generally, grant requests are for consulting services)
- Create or update a comprehensive plan to better understand community needs and identify strategies to implement change
- Conduct a zoning review to identify and remove language that hinders economic growth, such as housing and/or commercial development
- Create a plan to update zoning rules to unlock potential housing production and economic development growth
- Site Preparation Category (generally entails hiring of consultants, engineers, and/or contractors)
- Create a site master plan, including predevelopment activities, on an underutilized commercial property with the intent to create mixed use development
- Create a feasibility study or site master plan for an underutilized or decommissioned municipal building, with the intent to create commercial or mixed use (such as housing and commercial space OR coworking space, municipal use, and community meeting space)
- Conduct design, engineering, and/or permitting activities to address changes to existing water, sewer and stormwater in a prospective development site
- Demolish a blighted building that cannot be recovered to prepare a portion of a parcel or an entire parcel for commercial, housing, or mixed-use redevelopment
- Buildings (generally entails hiring of consultants, engineers, and/or contractors)
- Conduct design, engineering, permitting, and/or construction activities to address ADA accessibility requirements for public buildings and resources in municipalities that have a Massachusetts Office on Disability-approved Self-Evaluation and/or Transition Plan
- Conduct design, engineering, permitting, and/or construction activities of an underutilized or decommissioned municipal building, with the intent to create mixed use (such as housing, shared workspace, municipal use, and/or community meeting space)
- Rehabilitate town-owned underutilized property for intended disposal to a developer
- Infrastructure (generally entails hiring of engineers and contractors)
- Conduct design, engineering, permitting, and construction for road improvements, including projects that address public safety concerns, such as dangerous road conditions and/or imminent collapse of a bridge or culvert
- Conduct design, engineering, permitting, and construction of alternative transportation infrastructure between residential areas and/or commercial areas and/or community resources to address ADA accessibility requirements or to improve connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists
- Conduct design, engineering, permitting, and/or construction activities to address improvements to existing water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure
- Conduct design, engineering, and/or permitting activities to address construction of a new water line connection to an adjacent town or further plans to consolidate water districts for an area served only by wells.
Eligibility Criteria
A municipal government, or other public entity, from any Massachusetts town that meets (based on the 2020 Census data) the definition of a Rural Community (having 500 or fewer persons per square mile) and/or a Small Town (having a total population of 7,000 or fewer persons). Other public entities may include a Public Housing Authority, Redevelopment Authority, Water/Sewer District, Economic Development Industrial Corporation, a public body created by legislative act, etc. Regional Planning Agencies may also be eligible applicants if applying on behalf of a clearly identified and eligible public entity or entities within their assigned region, with clear and evident support from those communities. Applications must be submitted by a single lead applicant. However, a lead applicant may submit a joint application in partnership with one or more other eligible applicant(s). Joint applications where one or more applicants are ineligible will not be considered by the Rural Development Fund.
For more information, visit EOED.
